Denver Golf Trip in July -- Course List Inside!

pseudoswede · August 1, 2017

I'd suggest either play FT and another course on the west side, or play CG and/or courses on the east side of town. A combo of FT + Fox Hollow (Meadow and Canyon 9s) would be super easy. Or, maybe CG and Murphy Creek or Green Valley Ranch. Could try to get in 36 at Riverdale Dunes, too, and the traffic would be a little better coming back into town, but if you can stay on the west side of town traffic will be better.

This. I would probably recommend Fossil Trace and Fox Hollow. In fact, maybe put Fossil Trace in the afternoon (although you will risk storms), and then you will be minutes away from Red Rocks.

You're going to be tight on time between finishing your 2nd 18 and getting to Red Rocks. You'll be finishing up your round right in the middle of rush hour, and Denver traffic sucks. Just pick up some food, a 12-pack (cans) of local brews, and just tailgate in the parking lot with a few thousand new friends until the doors open. Don't worry about freshening up: it's an outdoor venue and it will smell like sweat and weed, anyways. If anything, bring a towel and a change of clothes with you and change at the golf course.

SilverBullets · August 2, 2017

I'd suggest either play FT and another course on the west side, or play CG and/or courses on the east side of town. A combo of FT + Fox Hollow (Meadow and Canyon 9s) would be super easy. Or, maybe CG and Murphy Creek or Green Valley Ranch. Could try to get in 36 at Riverdale Dunes, too, and the traffic would be a little better coming back into town, but if you can stay on the west side of town traffic will be better.

This. I would probably recommend Fossil Trace and Fox Hollow. In fact, maybe put Fossil Trace in the afternoon (although you will risk storms), and then you will be minutes away from Red Rocks.

You're going to be tight on time between finishing your 2nd 18 and getting to Red Rocks. You'll be finishing up your round right in the middle of rush hour, and Denver traffic sucks. Just pick up some food, a 12-pack (cans) of local brews, and just tailgate in the parking lot with a few thousand new friends until the doors open. Don't worry about freshening up: it's an outdoor venue and it will smell like sweat and weed, anyways. If anything, bring a towel and a change of clothes with you and change at the golf course.

This is kind of the direction we are heading now. It just makes a lot more sense. Do a little sink shower at the course, change, grab a bit to eat and head to the concert.

SilverBullets · August 17, 2017

I left Denver on Sunday, flew to Minnesota for work and got back to Phoenix yesterday. I want to thank everyone for the suggestions. We ended up going with the plan to play Fossil Trace and then Fox Hollow on Thursday before the concert, and then 36 at Bear Dance on Friday. Everything worked flawlessly and it was a great plan. Thanks for the help. My thoughts:

Fossil Trace - I honestly had a blast on this course. It's well conditioned and is a very cool layout. I put it as one of those 'golf trip' type of courses where you play it because it really cool and is a great add for a golf trip, but, if I lived in Denver I would likely never play it. It's not a very good layout from a pure golf perspective, but, its a lot of fun to play once on a trip because of how unique it is. I liken it to a Quintero in Phoenix. If you aren't a local, you will likely love it. If you are a local, you will likely stay away from it because it's quirky, unique and not really a great golf layout. I have played other Engh designs (True North and Tullymore) so I kind of knew what to expect.

Fox Hollow - Solid course. We couldn't get on the Canyon 9 as our timing didn't work so we played Links and Meadows. I liked the Links 9, it was really solid but didn't care for Meadows. Other than the bunkers, the course was in pretty good shape. Greens were slow but rolled fairly true. We had a storm circling the course the entire round and it went from seemingly warm (mid 70's) to low 60's, dark and winds blowing in excess of 30 mph multiple times. On the par 3 8th hole (I think it was 8) on the links side which you hit way down hill, the flag was literally touching the green it was blowing so hard (it was one of those really tall flags). I hit a wedge and had to play about 40 yards left of the hole so the wind could blow it back. it was crazy. Overall, for under $50, it was a great value. And the proximity to Red Rocks was awesome. Made getting the concert easy (getting in Red Rocks on the other hand.. man is that a pain)

Bear Dance - Easily the highlight of the trip. Just a great golf course. Beautiful, picturesque tee shots throughout the course. The course was cart path only and was very saturated (understandable with how much rain they have had). It was great to see how quick the greens still were. The course really doesn't seem to drain well though. The morning round was beautiful but the afternoon we got blasted with weather again. Winds picked up, temperatures dropped, and the skies opened for about 45 minutes. Just soaked everything. The final 9 got really sloppy.

I thought Bear Dance had a great collection of Par 3's. #2 was a nice mid iron to a fairly generic green. #7 is a great par 3 over water which lines up for a draw when you really need to hit a cut into the pin which tucked on the right side on top of the slope. Didn't realize that tree was pin high until I was behind it haha. I love how they protect the hole using that tree and then the severe sloping on the green so you can't just bail out left for a right pin. On the back 9, 12 was a nice short par 3 wedge shot which if played correctly you could really leverage spin off the back slope to bring it back to a front pin. And then #17, another short par 3 but uphill and the slope on the green makes it kind of blind at the hole.

While I really enjoyed the par 3's, I found the Par 5's to be relatively weak. #5 with the double dogleg and really nowhere to hit a tee, other than a huge slice over the tree was a little dumb. #8 was WAY TOO short for it's own good. It ultimately plays like a par 4. #13 kind of forces longer hitters to bag the driver, and it's still reach able with an iron in. This was the best par 5 on the course though as the green was well protected. #18 is just a long double dog leg which is pretty boring. I really dislike double doglegs and this course had 2 of them. But overall, Bear Dance was awesome, our group loved it and next time I am in Denver, I will certainly play it again.

Side note - What is the fascination with plastic lip liners in the cups? Fox Hollow and Bear Dance had them. At Bear Dance it didn't seem to impact putts but at Fox Hollow I had 3 lip outs where the ball went fully around the cup only to spit back out at me. Super frustrating. Just leave them out. It makes the course look like a crappy muni. I couldn't believe Bear Dance had them.

pseudoswede · August 18, 2017

Great write-up, and glad you had a good time in our fair state.

I play Fossil Trace about once a year, and that is plenty for me. Actually, I'm probably not playing it at all this year.

I believe it's Links #4 at Fox Hollow, but my strategy is to "aim at Red Rocks and draw the ball".

PepsiDuck · August 21, 2017

Thanks for the writeup! I think your review of Bear Dance has convinced me to play that course when I go through Denver on my coast-to-coast road trip next month.